Friday, July 19, 2002

Why Corporations Don't Work Barry Carter writes: Imagine a society where you have no guaranteed freedom of speech and no right to privacy, where tapping your phone or secretly videotaping your every move is legal and done. Envision an economy where all customers internal to the society are controlled centrally by bureaucrats and where wealth-creation is socially owned—one where the individual is not allowed to own the fruits of his or her labor. Imagine a place where there is no freedom of market choice and all of your suppliers operate as monopolies and are chosen for you by autocrats in the bureaucracy. Imagine a place where regardless of the contribution you make, your reward stays the same and you are rewarded the same or less as those adding less or even no value in the society. In this society the bureaucracy, as in a welfare system, pays for the services provided to you. Imagine a culture where people tap only a small percent of their passion and are relatively non-engaged, where giving mediocre effort and service to customers internal to the society is the norm. Imagine a society where internal customers wait in long lines to have their needs met; one where customer and supplier relationships are mostly ones of indifference or even adversarial. It is a society where the organizing system consistently suppresses individual creativity and initiative. Imagine a system of secrecy, where the central bureaucrats in power tightly hold information. They strategically use information as propaganda to put the best spin on things from their perspective and for their gain and comfort. No, I am not talking about the former Soviet Union. I am describing the internal operations of the company or controlled economy where you likely work. (07/19/02) Isn't That Strange! Joseph Clifford writes: As late as 1998 the US was paying the salary of every single Taliban official in Afghanistan?  Isn't that strange? There is more oil and gas in the Caspian Sea area than in Saudi Arabia, but you need a pipeline through Afghanistan to get the oil out.  Isn't that strange? UNOCAL, a giant American Oil conglomerate, wanted to build a 1000 mile long pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea. Isn't that strange? UNOCAL spent $10,000,000,000 on geological surveys for  pipeline construction, and very nicely courted the Taliban for their support in allowing the construction to begin. Isn't that strange? All of the leading Taliban officials were in Texas negotiating with UNOCAL in 1998.  Isn't that strange? (07/19/02) Deadly Virus Found in Texas Oklahoma and Nebraska CNN—DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- The West Nile virus has spread to Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska -- the farthest west it has been found -- prompting officials to begin spraying creeks, ponds and anywhere there is standing water to eradicate mosquitoes that carry the deadly virus. ... From its discovery in 1999 in New York City, the virus has infected at least 149 people and killed at least 18 nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases have been recorded in 31 states and the District of Columbia; Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and North Dakota were added to the list this year, according to the CDC. Mosquitoes contract the virus from birds and pass it to humans and horses. In Texas, 50 birds and eight horses have tested positive, but no human cases have been found, McBride said. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a dead crow found last week tested positive late Wednesday. Officials there increased daily sprayings of insecticides from two trucks to three, and residents were asked to mow lawns and empty any pools of standing water. (07/19/02) On the Melting Front CNN—A new study indicates that glaciers in Alaska are melting faster than previously thought, providing further evidence of global warming, researchers said Thursday. Scientists have long warned that global warming -- when heat-trapping gases force atmospheric temperatures to rise -- could eventually raise sea levels to a dangerous point by melting ice sheets and glaciers. The whole issue of global climate change is important to everyone," said glacier expert Anthony Arendt of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. "The whole issue of sea-level change affects people who live near the coast quite directly. Just small changes in sea level can cause very large incursions of water up along the coast and can destroy valuable property there. It can move people away from their homes." ... A panel of scientists that regularly reports to the United Nations on global warming issues has projected that sea level will rise between three inches and about two-and-a-half feet during this century. But glaciers melting faster than expected could increase that projection. (07/19/02) Secretary of the Army Defends his Record at Enron CNN—Army Secretary Thomas White testifying at the Senate Commerce Committee's Enron hearing yesterday: White told the panel he was unaware of transactions detailed in a December 2000 Enron memo that spelled out strategies which critics say were meant to improperly take advantage of California's power shortages. "I can categorically say that it was not ever in the interest of (his division of Enron) to see wholesale energy prices escalate," said White. At one point, banging his pen on the witness table, White told the committee: "I am responsible for the portion of that company that I ran. ...The deals that we put together, within the accounting structure that was the standard in the industry, I stand behind." ... White was vice chairman of an Enron subsidiary called Enron Energy Services, which critics say engaged in questionable electricity trading that helped drive up power prices during the 2000-2001 California power crisis. ... Panel members complained that White had made roughly $50 million in salary in his 11 years with Enron, and another $12 million when he sold stock last year, while many employees and shareholders had seen pension plans and investments become worthless. (07/19/02) 6:37:28 AM

© TrustMark 2002 Timothy Wilken. Last update: 7/31/2002; 3:04:43 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.